files/pictures/picture-35.jpgPress Release from Cartoon Network and Hewlett-Packard
HONG KONG, December 13, 2010 – Cartoon Network and Hewlett-Packard today announced the winners of the 2010 Toon Creator Awards, selecting from over 160,000 animations created by kids across the Asia Pacific Region.
Australia’s Jack Munari was named the grand prize winner for his entry titled Endive - a humorous short animation combining characters from his favourite Cartoon Network show Chowder.
The individual country winners are:
* Abhirup Bhaumik (India);
* Warner Cunanan (Philippines);
* Jack Munari (Australia);
* Sarviin Ageelen (Malaysia);
* Huang Hong Ru (Taiwan);
* Akkanee Potisawad (Thailand); and
* Musa Nishat (Pakistan).
Nine-year old Jack wins an HP digital home makeover valued at over US$2000; a fantastic Cartoon Network Prize Pack; and the opportunity to see his winning entry broadcast on Cartoon Network. The individual country winners each receive an HP TouchSmart PC; and a Cartoon Network prize pack containing a Ben 10 Alien Force Alien Creation Chamber; Ben 10 Headset Walkie Talkies; Ben 10 Omnitrix Alien Viewer; Powerfpuff Girls Speakers; and Ben 10 Quad Bike.
“I was so surprised when I was told I won the grand prize as I never thought that would happen,” said Jack. “I entered Toon Creator because I really enjoy making movies with a video camera so thought this could be another fun thing to try. I really tried hard to put in my funniest ideas, and loved how just mixing facial expressions and emotions could make a different outcome each time. With all the cool tools there was no end to the creativity you could put in each toon.”
Schools in the region also encouraged students to showcase their creativity through technology with Toon Creator Awards for a chance to win three HP desktop PCs for their computer lab. From almost 3,000 school contest submissions received, six schools had the most registered entries:
* Killarney Heights Public School (Australia);
* St Paul College, Pasig Grade School Dept (Philippines);
* Pan-Asia International School (Thailand);
* Kendriya Vidyalaya NO 1 (India);
* SMK Taman Inderawasih (Malaysia); and
* GEMS – the learners’ mine (Pakistan).
This year’s interactive contest saw the addition of a character creator function that allowed players to build personalised avatars along their online journey. Kids were able to unlock special items to enhance their final animations, providing a fresh and innovative Toon Creator experience that sparked a frenzy of online activity.
The official website attracted more than 6.3 million page views and 800,000 unique visitors by the end of October 2010.
“Kids have really embraced the new Toon Creator experience made possible by Cartoon Network and HP,” said Benjamin Grubbs, Executive Director for Turner Entertainment Interactive Media. “They’ve also taken easily to the technology, and used it to create some amazing entries which have garnered an incredible level of interest.”
For the duration of the contest, more than 1.3 million animations were viewed on the Toon Creator Awards website. This equates to a phenomenal eight animations watched every minute.
“We couldn’t be happier with the way the kids have taken our cutting-edge technology and used it to inspire some of the funniest, scariest and most innovative Toon Creator animated story lines we have seen,” said Robin Seow, Vice President of Marketing, Personal Systems Group, HP Asia Pacific and Japan. “The impressive quality of their work speaks to how intuitive the HP’s TouchSmart software is, and how it can inspire the learning process for children today.”
For more information and to view all the winning entries please log on to
www.ToonCreatorAwards.com .
About Cartoon Network & Turner Entertainment Interactive Media
Launched in the Asia Pacific in 1994, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s (TBS) Cartoon Network offers the best in animated entertainment. Drawing from the world’s largest cartoon library of Warner Bros., MGM and Hanna-Barbera titles, the Network also showcases original series including Ben 10, Ben 10 Alien Force, Chowder, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, The Powerpuff Girls and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Cartoon Network is the number one channel for kids in Asia Pacific and is currently seen in nearly 62 million cable homes in the region. Online, Cartoon Network reaches 3.5 million unique visitors a month in Asia Pacific.
Turner Entertainment Interactive Media (Turner Interactive), a division of Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, Inc., develops and distributes online video, gaming and commerce products and services for Turner’s brands in the kids’, animation, and general entertainment categories. The department is responsible for the localization and growth of Cartoon Network’s websites, which now attract 3.5 million unique visitors a month. Turner Interactive also manages and develops the online destinations for Turner’s other entertainment brands including POGO, Galli Galli Sim Sim, TCM Turner Classic Movies, and WB.
TBS Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.
About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at
http://www.hp.com .
